New and Recommended Graphic Novels

Look for these and other great titles in the Graphic Novel section of the YA area!

August moonby Diana Thung (GN/A) -- The townspeople of Calico believe in the legend of the Soul Fire - orbs of light dancing through the night sky, believed to be the souls of dead ancestors watching over the town. But when eleven-year-old Fiona Gan comes to town with her dad, she learns the amazing truth: these fireballs are actually the light from lanterns carried by mysterious rabbit like creatures as they leap across rooftops. Leaping with them is the peculiar street boy Jaden, who rarely speaks and claims to come from the moon. But the games may be coming to an end, because Fi and her dad are not the only newcomers to Calico when a creepy corporation starts bulldozing the nearby forests, she finds herself uncovering a whole world of secrets, and drawn into Jaden's battle for the soul of a community.

Buffy the vampire slayer. Season nine, Vol. 1, Freefallby Joss Whedon (GN/B) -- Season 8 ended with a bang that cut the world off from magic - culminating in another set of world-ending problems. Buffy has left her best friend, Willow, powerless, and brought an end to a millennia-long tradition of superpowered girls. By day, Buffy is a twenty-something waitress with no real direction, and even though magic is gone, she's still a Vampire Slayer by night. Bigger problem? Vampires are becoming an epidemic...of zompires! Series creator Joss Whedon teams with Andrew Chambliss (Dollhouse, Once Upon a Time) and Season 8 artist Georges Jeanty for the next life-affirming, world-changing season of the smash hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Beautiful creatures : the mangaby Cassandra Jean (GN/MANGA) -- In a graphic novel adaptation of the book, sixteen-year-old Ethan is powerfully drawn to Lena, a new classmate with whom he shares a psychic connection and whose family hides a dark secret that may be revealed on her sixteenth birthday.

Earl & the fairy. 1 by Ayuko (GN/MANGA) -- Fairy doctor Lydia Carlton is rescued from kidnappers by Edgar Ashenbert, a descendent of the human ruler of the fairy world, and gets caught up in a dangerous quest to recover the sword of the Blue Knight Earl and help Edgar regain his birthright.

Aquaman. Vol. 1, The trenchby Geoff Johns (GN/DC) -- In the waters that cover the Earth, Aquaman reigns supreme. Yet on the surface world-a world he and the deadly beauty Mera battle to protect--the king of the sea is out of his element. A terrifying new threat has emerged from the black abyss miles below the surface. Humanity dismisses and disrespects him, just as they do the oceans he rules. They may not like him. But they need him.

The rime of the modern marinerby Nick Hayes (GN/R) -- A mariner appears on a park bench and begins his tale. Cursed by an albatross he slew whilst hunting whales, the mariner and his crew find themselves stranded within the North Pacific Garbage Patch: a vast, hypoxic, slow-whirling maelstrom of plastic waste; a hidden repository for the world's litter. Along the way, he meets various characters of our current environmental tragedy: a lady made of oil, a deserted ghost-ship drilling barge, a 2-inch salp (the human race's oceanic ancestor), a blue whale and a hermit. Nostradamus, Cassandra, Medusa, Poseidon, Thor, Gaia, Al-Javari, Mephistopheles and a buzzard also make cameo appearances.

The surrogates : Flesh and boneby Robert Venditti (GN/S) -- Set fifteen years prior to the events of the first volume, The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone sheds light on the past that binds the cast together. From the streets of Central Georgia Metropolis to the boardroom of Virtual Self, Inc., it takes us on a journey through a city struggling to come to grips with its present. As much a cautionary tale as a story of suspense, this book reminds us that tomorrow will be determined by the choices we make today.

D. Gray-man. Vol. 21 & 22by Katsura Hoshino (GN/MANGA) -- Allen has been dropped into a flashback of his surly colleague Yu Kanda's past, where a parade of disturing secrets reveal themselves - including one that could at long last explain what makes Yu tick.

Naruto. Vol. 58-60by Masashi Kishimoto (GN/MANGA) -- Kabuto's hold over his army of undead minions tightens as he senses that he's losing power over the stronger members of his Immortal Corps, including Nagato Pain. Sasuke's brother, Itachi, may have the best chance of of breaking Kabuto's hold. But he's still not completely in control of his actions, which means Naruto may have to take him down once and for all.

Superman : what price tomorrow? Vol. 1by George Perez (GN/DC) -- Metropolis fears him. The Daily Planet agrees. This new volume of SUPERMAN finds our hero with a startling new status quo. As Superman finds ways to dodge the scrutiny placed upon him by the public and media, he must stop a monstrous threat to Metropolis - one that he somehow is the cause of!

Wolverine and the X-Men. Vol. 2by Jason Aaron (GN/MARVEL) -- After surviving the new Hellfire Club's opening salvo, Wolverine and the X-Men face a crisis of a different kind: funding for the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Wolverine's only option to keep the school open is a trip across the universe to bet everything at an intergalactic casino. Meanwhile, Kitty Pryde's pregnant - but has no idea how. And a Brood-hunting monster has come from space to take out his target at the Jean Grey School, and he'll kill anyone who gets in his way - which is just about everyone on the Logan-less campus. Plus: the new Hellfire Club wants another shot at destroying everything Wolverine has ever loved - and they've hired Sabretooth to make that a reality!

Sailor Twain : or, The mermaid in the Hudsonby Mark Siegel (GN/S) -- One hundred years ago. On the foggy Hudson River, a riverboat captain rescues an injured mermaid from the waters of the busiest port in the United States. A wildly popular--and notoriously reclusive--author makes a public debut. A French nobleman seeks a remedy for a curse. As three lives twine together and race to an unexpected collision, the mystery of the Mermaid of the Hudson deepens.

Baltimore. Vol. 2, The curse bellsby Mark Mignola (GN/B) -- A horrific ritual will create havoc on a small European town, as Lord Baltimore takes on the twisted blessing of vampiric nuns and an insane warlock!

Alice in the country of hearts. 1, My fanatic rabbitby QuinRose (GN/MANGA) -- One day, a mysterious rabbit-eared man named Peter suddenly appears in Alice's garden and kidnaps her, whisking her off to a dangerous world where every resident brandishes a weapon. Trapped in this land in the midst of a three-way power struggle, Alice accepts an offer to stay at the Hatter's mansion. At the mansion, Alice meets the Hatter's right-hand man, Elliot March, who sports a pair of bunny ears! Alice cannot get over the fact that likable, charming Elliot is actually a Mafia hitman, willing to kill people without hesitation ... In this all-new Wonderland manga, the March Hare has finally arrived!!

Bleach. Vol. 55, The blood warfareby Tite Kubo (GN/MANGA) -- The peace is suddenly broken when warning sirens blare through the Soul Society. Residents there are disappearing without a trace, and nobody knows who's behind it. Meanwhile, a dark shadow is also extending itself toward Ichigo and his friends in Karakura Town.

Uncanny X-men. Vol.1by Kieron Gillen (GN/MARVEL) -- After the Schism, UNCANNY X-MEN starts over. What is to become of (CENSORED) and the mutants who side with him after the big split? And what does it have to do with the resurrected Mister Sinister? The hottest new writer in the business, Kieron Gillen (Thor) and superstar Carlos Pacheco (X-Men:Schism, Ultimate Avengers) bring you the biggest and baddest X-Men you've ever seen.

Star Wars : The old republic. Vol. 3, The lost sunsby Alexander Freed (GN/S) -- One of the Republic's elite spies, Theron Shan, embarks on an assignment to uncover dark secrets that could shatter the fragile peace with the Sith and plunge the galaxy back into war! An old Jedi, Ngani Zho - once Theron's mentor, and formerly thought lost in Sith territory - has returned, quite a bit more peculiar than before he left. Unfortunately, he''s the only one who can guide Theron on his mission. Quickly, Theron's hands are full with Zho, a troublesome thief, and the Sith who never should have let that old Jedi return to the Republic!

Resistance. Book 3, Victoryby Carla Jablonski (GN/R) -- In 1944, as Allied forces move to retake France from its Nazi invaders, the Tessier siblings risk their lives once more and journey to Paris, where they are to deliver top-secret intelligence to Resistance workers.